I read the four books in Dan Simmons's Hyperion series (spoilers for all four books in this thread will follow) for the first time a few months ago, but somehow keep forgetting to start a thread here about them. It was the first major non-Trek sci-fi literature I've read and it was a superb introduction to what's out there...I can't believe I've been missing out for so long.
Overall I thought the books were excellent. Hyperion was a perfect introduction to the universe Simmons wanted to portray; the individual tales unfolded in a way that slowly revealed more and more about the complex workings, politics, and themes of the Hegemony which gripped me from the start and didn't let go. Cool concepts like the internet-gone-wild datasphere and multi-planet farcaster mansions, along with things like the River Tethys and the Grand Concourse gave the book a nice epic scope. The way Simmons changed styles so effortlessly between the different stories worked great.
My favorite tale was probably the first one told by Lenar Hoyt; that ending with Dure crucifying himself on the Tesla trees to avoid the worse fate that befell the Brikari was very moving. The Consul's story I found the least interesting for some reason...he was this vaguely mysterious and enigmatic guy from the start, but his rebellious ancestors were kind of dull. I did love his story with the Ousters, who were another really cool sci-fi idea of their own.
The Fall of Hyperion, while still quite good, is probably my least favorite in the series. First of all, it was riddled with typos pretty consistently, which was really distracting and gave it an unprofessional feel. That aside, there just wasn't a way for Simmons to re-capture the "Canterbury Tales"-like feel of the first book in this continuation. There was so much going on everywhere that it kind of got out of hand, and I thought the new main character/narrator Keats cybrid laid on the literary references a little too heavily sometimes. Silenus on the Shrike's tree and Kasaad's various action adventures didn't do much for me, either.
Still, I certainly didn't dislike the book, and some of the resolutions worked really well, like Sol and Rachel's story, the TechnoCore's zen-koan spokesman Ummon, and above all Gladstone's decision to destroy the Web and completely which which was an awesome way to end the story. It could have worked perfectly as the conclusion; when the book first came out, does anyone know if that was the intention, or were the Endymion books always planned to make the series four books?
Endymion was the lightest of the four and really just a straight-forward adventure tale, and also more obviously set-up material for the Big Finale, but I still really enjoyed it. At first I thought making the cruciforms such an enormous part of the newly reshaped human government gutted some of the original poignancy of Dure's ordeal, but I warmed up to the idea quickly. I really liked seeing the remnants of the web and the newly powerful Church was pretty chilling.
It was pretty annoying to constantly read the phrase "Father Captain," but de Soya was a great character so I got used to it. A. Bettik taking a more prominent role was great, and Endymion himself I think was a pretty entertaining narrator.
The Rise of Endymion is my favorite of the four. Everything that happens occurs on a grand playing field with dozens of characters and events to keep track of; this time I think Simmons stayed on the rails and it all came together really well. It dragged a little bit when they were hanging out on the Tibetan mountain planet in the middle, but I enjoyed the various scenes of Aenea's "sermons" enough to not notice so much.
The climax was riveting and Aenea's death moving; before that, the freecasting to every known planet was slam-bang entertainment and Raul finally coming into his own was well done. If there's one small problem I have, it's with the missing year and secret husband sub-plot; given how prevalent time travel is in the series, I figured that one out easily so the standard relationship angst plot was carried on a bit too long for me.
All in all, I loved the books and have since started his newer book Ilium. I'm liking it a lot so far (only 200 pages in, no spoilers please!!!) and he seems a versatile enough writer to create a whole new universe with ease. I want to re-read the Hyperion books in a few years and see how they hold up; I expect I'll get even more out of them, catching more of the subtle plotting and references throughout.
Long post...so anyways, what do you guys think of the books?
Overall I thought the books were excellent. Hyperion was a perfect introduction to the universe Simmons wanted to portray; the individual tales unfolded in a way that slowly revealed more and more about the complex workings, politics, and themes of the Hegemony which gripped me from the start and didn't let go. Cool concepts like the internet-gone-wild datasphere and multi-planet farcaster mansions, along with things like the River Tethys and the Grand Concourse gave the book a nice epic scope. The way Simmons changed styles so effortlessly between the different stories worked great.
My favorite tale was probably the first one told by Lenar Hoyt; that ending with Dure crucifying himself on the Tesla trees to avoid the worse fate that befell the Brikari was very moving. The Consul's story I found the least interesting for some reason...he was this vaguely mysterious and enigmatic guy from the start, but his rebellious ancestors were kind of dull. I did love his story with the Ousters, who were another really cool sci-fi idea of their own.
The Fall of Hyperion, while still quite good, is probably my least favorite in the series. First of all, it was riddled with typos pretty consistently, which was really distracting and gave it an unprofessional feel. That aside, there just wasn't a way for Simmons to re-capture the "Canterbury Tales"-like feel of the first book in this continuation. There was so much going on everywhere that it kind of got out of hand, and I thought the new main character/narrator Keats cybrid laid on the literary references a little too heavily sometimes. Silenus on the Shrike's tree and Kasaad's various action adventures didn't do much for me, either.
Still, I certainly didn't dislike the book, and some of the resolutions worked really well, like Sol and Rachel's story, the TechnoCore's zen-koan spokesman Ummon, and above all Gladstone's decision to destroy the Web and completely which which was an awesome way to end the story. It could have worked perfectly as the conclusion; when the book first came out, does anyone know if that was the intention, or were the Endymion books always planned to make the series four books?
Endymion was the lightest of the four and really just a straight-forward adventure tale, and also more obviously set-up material for the Big Finale, but I still really enjoyed it. At first I thought making the cruciforms such an enormous part of the newly reshaped human government gutted some of the original poignancy of Dure's ordeal, but I warmed up to the idea quickly. I really liked seeing the remnants of the web and the newly powerful Church was pretty chilling.
It was pretty annoying to constantly read the phrase "Father Captain," but de Soya was a great character so I got used to it. A. Bettik taking a more prominent role was great, and Endymion himself I think was a pretty entertaining narrator.
The Rise of Endymion is my favorite of the four. Everything that happens occurs on a grand playing field with dozens of characters and events to keep track of; this time I think Simmons stayed on the rails and it all came together really well. It dragged a little bit when they were hanging out on the Tibetan mountain planet in the middle, but I enjoyed the various scenes of Aenea's "sermons" enough to not notice so much.
The climax was riveting and Aenea's death moving; before that, the freecasting to every known planet was slam-bang entertainment and Raul finally coming into his own was well done. If there's one small problem I have, it's with the missing year and secret husband sub-plot; given how prevalent time travel is in the series, I figured that one out easily so the standard relationship angst plot was carried on a bit too long for me.
All in all, I loved the books and have since started his newer book Ilium. I'm liking it a lot so far (only 200 pages in, no spoilers please!!!) and he seems a versatile enough writer to create a whole new universe with ease. I want to re-read the Hyperion books in a few years and see how they hold up; I expect I'll get even more out of them, catching more of the subtle plotting and references throughout.
Long post...so anyways, what do you guys think of the books?
